Thursday, January 3, 2008

The River Horses

(Amazon, Barnes & Noble,
Subterranean Press)

A novella set between Coyote Rising and Coyote Frontier, The River Horses chronicles the journey of Marie Montero and Lars Thompson after they have been exiled from Coyote’s main colony. They are joined by the savant Manuel Castro on an expedition of exploration into Coyote’s frontier. They find many things on their journey including their own place on the still uncharted world.
The novella is touted as a story of exploration like the original Coyote novel, however, there is very little actual exploration involved. Part of the charm of the first book is that it combined the experiences of a brand new world with the changes in the people exploring it. While the short story certainly has plenty of the latter is has very little of the former. Even character-wise, it doesn’t add anything new the story then was already known. It’s a well-written story, albeit a disappointing one.
Rating: 6/10.

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